Ghost Hunt: the Cursed Relics
by SeaChelles09
Summary: With ghost possessions, ESP and PK, a widow, and a town full of psychics can Naru and SPR finish this case or be left spooked? Now complete and with teaser for next story xD! The first original Ghost Hunt story on the site!
1. Prolouge

**_Ghost Hunt:_** _Tale of the Cursed Relics_

_"Sometimes what you're looking for is right in front of you..."_

Prologue: July 12

"Koaimi, let's move it!"

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea, Reimi," Koaimi Shino remarked, clutching her bouquet of flowers. "I can wait until the sun rises."

Reimi Shino stopped in her tracks, then spun around to look at Koaimi. "Ya scared, cousin? C'mon, it's almost midnight! The ghosts are going to come out in the cemetary! What are you scared of? Spirits?"

"That's exactly what I'm scared of, Reimi," Koaimi said angrily to her younger cousin. "Ghosts aren't play-toys, they're lost and angry souls! How'd you get me to join you anyway?"

"Do you want to see grandaddy again or not? If you don't want to go, I'll go alone!"

Koaimi sighed as her 10 year old cousin spun around, her long fushia hair whipping behind her, and stormed down the hill to the graveyard. Koaimi pushed back the indigo hair from her face, and followed Reimi, the roses dying in her death grip.

"Do you see anything?" Koaimi called. Silence ensued; then a faint cry could be heard throughout the graveyard.

"Reimi!" Koaimi called as she ran forward. She paused at the hill and looked around. What she saw made her drop her flowers and gasp with fright.

"REIMIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

_**Ghost Hunt: Tale of the Cursed Relics**_

_"Some search far for themselves, others don't search at all..."_

**Three days later**

BAM!

"Ugh, I hate work." I hate everything today. The heat, my job, the summer, my boss...

But, please don't get me wrong! I'm usually perky, but it's just so unusually hot today, since it _is_ the hottest week of the summer after all. Oh, I forgot my manners! My name's Mai Taniyama, I'm 16 years old, and I'm currently on vacation.

From school, anyway.

My boss, Kazuya Shibuya (I just call him Naru for short) had stormed in about an hour ago. He recently got out of the hospital; he had hurt himself in our last case, which involved a haunted school and a well. Don't ask, it's quite complicated. Although, his pet coin isn't any more complicated, I tell ya.

"Ugh, Mai! I'm stepping all over your papers!" an angry voice called (if you wanted to know, that 'BAM!' was my paperwork sliding to the floor without me realizing). I snapped out of my daydreaming and slapped myself on the forehead.

"Ah! I spent two hours sorting through them! Sorry Lin!"

"Just watch it next time," he grumbled, peering from behind the huge stack of boxes he was carrying. "Shibuya-san needs to have a word with you in his office."

I stopped shuffling through the papers and moaned. "I swear I hate this day." I set the papers on the coffee table of the lobby and stood up straight. Lin watched me as I walked by him and to the office door of Naru-chan.

I think it's about time to tell you more about my 'job.' I work part-time at the Shibuya Psychic Research (SPR) as Naru-chan's assisstant. Believe it or not, Naru is only 17! But, he acts so 'mature' and intelligent (and is _so_ sure of himself) which leads to the nickname 'Naru', short for narcissist.

So far, at my time at SPR, we've solved over 3 cases; one at my school, one at a haunted mansion, and our recent one; at a haunted school. I also found out I had latent sensivity (a form of ESP)! Don't ask me to go into details, I'm not sure even _I _understand it!

"Naru-chan?"

"Come in," said the grumpy voice. I obeyed and peered inside. Naru was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands, sweat dripping down his handsome face. He had removed his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt two holes. A small fan was perched on his desk, blowing his once-neat black hair around like kites. He opened one intense blue eyes as the office door clicked shut.

"Why do I have to suffer from the heat while you have a fan?" I moaned.

He ignored me. As usual.

"Do we have any worthy applicants?"

"You make this sound like an interview," I said, huffily. He gave me a look, making me shudder dispite the heat. "Yes, we have half-a-dozen applicants."

"I see," Naru said, closing his eyes again. Why did he have the fan on and the window open? If he was really that hot, why did he wear his usual black outfit? He looked at least 98 degrees in those black clothest. "Read them out to me."

"Um, okay," I said, trying to remember them off the top of my head (I didn't have the guts to admit I dropped the paperwork...again). "Let's see, a haunted toilet-"

"Just some poltergeist playing a joke, anyone can exorcise that."

I hate his intelligence. "The haunted vineyard-"

"I keep telling them it's the ghost of a former worker," Naru said, angrily. "What's next?"

"The train station, the haunted television, the eerie music playing anonomusly at the opera house?" I said quickly, hoping to get _some_ interest from him.

It didn't work.

"The train station isn't haunted; a bunch of kids hang around over there to play jokes on unsuspecting tourists. The television isn't haunted; it's broken, as for the eerie music..."

Haha! I got him, we'll _have _to do this case! Bet you 1,000,000 yen (approximetly $10,000) he can't come up with a remark for that one!

"It's haunted by a band member that died last month. The band member played flute, and she fell in love with one of the actors. What's the last case?"

Damn! Wait, give me about ten years and I'll have your money...wait, I had my fingers crossed! Ha!

"Nothin' special," I remarked, knowing I could never outsmart him. "Just about a girl going missing in a cemetary."

Naru's eyes snapped open. "That's the one with the girl in shock, correct?"

"Yeah," I said, suprised at how interested he was in the missing child case. "Reimi Shino went missing at the cemetary three days ago, and her cousin, Koaimi, was found at a shelter close to her house 36 hours ago. She was in shock, but they know she was the last person to see Reimi before she vanished."

Naru stood up so suddenly it made me jump. "Get Lin and pack our stuff, we're taking a trip."

"Oh brother," I muttered, exiting the office door.

_Here we go again._


	2. Chapter One: The Cursed One

**_Ghost Hunt: _Curse of the Relics**

_Hey guys! Thank you for (hopefully) being patient, and I present chapter one to you. I had a (major) writers block, and thanks to volume four, I was able to complete my research (research?) on Ghost Hunt! Enjoy, and I'll quickly finish this for you!_

_-Katrina Izumi09_

_Chapter One: The Cursed One_

_"Please, save me. Please, before they kill me."_

_-------_

"Thank goodness you're here!" said the voice that opened the door. "I was afraid you'd reject my application."

"Heh, it was an interesting case, Mrs. Shino," Mai Taniyama said as Naru strolled past the woman and into the house. "We're just glad you complied."

"Do you need anything?" Mrs. Shino said as she watched Lin and Monk-san bring in equipment from the van. "Snacks or books or anything?"

"A spare room, if you don't mind," Naru answered looking around. "A nice place to research in."

"Of course," Mrs. Shino said as she rung a bell by the front door. "You can take my husband's old library."

Mai looked around the foyer in awe. It was a large house, the family was obviously rich, and the foyer itself was almost large enough to fit SPR in. A young maid came running down the large carpeted staircase, breathless.

"Yes, Shino-san?" the maid said, bowing.

"Kiri-chan, could you please prepare the library for our guests?"

"Of course," Kiri said, bowing again. "Anything else, m'lady?"

"Prepare Ai for her guests, please?" Mrs. Shino surprisingly asked. Kiri bowed again and left the room. Mai frowned. She didn't remember anyone named Ai in the application. Then again, she didn't know Mrs. Shino's own name.

"I don't think we were properly introduced," Mrs. Shino said, grinning. "Call me Rebecca Shino. Who's the head of your company?"

"I am," Naru said, bowing. "Katzuya Shibuya, president of SPR."

_Oh great_, Mai said. _Now she's going to laugh about his age, or kick us out or something_.

Surprisingly, Rebecca bowed back. "I see, you must be quite a psychic. What do you specialize in?"

"Ghost hunting," Naru answered back. "And these three work for me. That tall one over there is Houshou Takigawa, this is Lin-san, and that's my assisstant; Mai Taniyama."

All three bowed in turn and Rebecca bowed back. "I see, you're all so young. Well, I musn't keep you from your job, come with me."

Mai and Naru followed Rebecca down a long corrider until they reached an oak door. Rebecca pushed it open and Mai could immediatly smell mothballs. Rebecca had led them into a dusty old library, which had been clearly vaccated for a couple of years.

"Sorry about the smell," Rebecca said as she went to a window and opened it. "No one's used it since my husband died 5 years ago."

"Sorry for your loss," Mai said softly as she caught Naru glimpsing at the books.

"These books are written in German," Naru said. Mai nudged him in the ribs.

"Stop being so insensitive," she hissed. Rebecca laughed.

"It's alright, Mai-chan. Yes, my husband and I used to research psychic phenomenoms and we recored our findings in German so our niece and daughter wouldn't find out what we were writing about. I'm half-German, and I grew up in Munich."

_It explains the name_, Mai thought. "You researched psychic phenomenoms? Sounds like you had a good job."

Rebecca smiled. Mai admired her great activeness and happiness, despite her history of loss. "Almost, my husband and I were on the brink of discovering something amazing, and he died before we could complete our project. Because I'm very supersticious, I quit the research and the library's been abandoned since then."

"We could help, right Naru?" Mai said, glaring at him. "That is, if it's okay with you, Rebecca-san?"

"Of course," Rebecca said. "Well, I'll leave you to it. If you need to visit Ai-chan just let Kiri know before you go up."

"Could you send her down here?" Naru asked as he started looking through the shelves. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get as much info about Reimei's disappearence as I can gather."

"Sure," Rebecca said as she left the room. Naru grabbed a few books from the shelves, and started flipping through them. He nodded curtly.

"Their research is amazing. I wonder where they recieved their data."

"Maybe their psychics in disguise," Mai said sarcastically. "Why does it matter? Why'd you take this case?"

"I heard that Koaimi keeps saying strange things," Naru said simply as he sat down on a large cushioned chair with his books.

_Koaimi?_ Mai thought._ Wait, KoAImi...Ai-chan. Oh..._

"What kinds of stuff?" Mai said. Naru sighed, clearly aggrivated, but Mai was spared a creul remark when Monk-san and Lin burst in with the equipment.

---

It wasn't until two hours after they settled in that the maid, Kiri, knocked on the door.

"Come in," Naru said, reading through his fifth book. Kiri stepped inside and walked over to where Mai was sitting, observing the cameras.

"Mistress says Shibuya-san wishes to see me?" Kiri said uncomfortably.

"Yes," Naru said, placing a marker in the book. "I was wondering if you could tell me what happened the night Reimei disappeared."

"Of course," Kiri said, taking a seat on a wooden stool. "It was the hottest night, and also Relic Night."

"'Relic Night'?" Mai repeated. Kiri nodded.

"It's the night when the full moon turns gold and spirits are supposed to leave their graves and haunt the local cemetary. Reimei-kun was always interested in those kinds of things, ghosts and all, and she tried to drag Koaimi-san into it. Eventually, Koaimi-san caved in and took her cousin to their graveyard to visit their grandfather and master Shino in Death. The last thing that I remember was it being midnight, and the two Shino's still weren't home. They went missing for three days, and we finally found Koaimi-san hiding in a tree in our backyard."

"Did she tell you what happened?" Naru said, leaning on the table. Kiri shook her head.

"No. Koaimi-san hasn't said a word since we found her."

"But she does say something," Naru prompted. "Shino-san mentioned in her application."

"Um..." Kiri said as she shifted uncomfotably. "Yes, she does say something. But only when we have guests. She always says 'Please save me before they can kill me.'"

Mai felt a shiver go down her spine, but she managed to keep her goosebumps from spreading.

"I see," Naru said. "What else does she do?"

"Nothing unusual besides that," Kiri said, trying to remember. "She showers, goes to the bathroom, brushes her hair, sews, gets dressed, and all that other stuff. But the only thing she hasn't done is eat or sleep. I'm thinking it's because Koaimi-san and Reimei-kun used to sleep together in the same room. They used to always have tea together too."

"Do you know about the whereabouts of Koba Shino's death?"

Kiri looked at Naru sadly, before looking at her hands. "Master Shino-san's death is a tradgety, sir. I'm afraid I don't know the details about it."

Naru nodded. "Alright, you may go."

"Thank you for your help," Mai said as Kiri left. "Would it kill you to be nice?"  
"I don't have time to make friends I'll never see again," Naru said, ignoring Mai's growl. "I need to observe the girl, she sounds interesting."

"That's why you took the case," Monk-san said. "Because the girl interested you."

Mai pondered over that. If Monk-san was right, that was pretty unusual for Naru. Naru usually investigated haunted buildings, not cursed people.

"You've heard of the Relic Night haven't you?" Monk-san continued. "Otherwise I see no reason why you picked this case."

"The elements of why I chose this case is none of your business," Naru said cooly.

"Why I outta-" Monk-san said angrily as Mai restrained him.

"Not now, we need to go Koaimi-san and observe her," Mai said. "Maybe we can find Reimei if we look at Koaimi."

"Oh, right," Monk-san said.

-----

_Why am I the one stuck doing this?_ Mai thought angrily as Kiri opened the door to Koaimi's room. _With Naru..._

"Koaimi-san, you have visitors," Kiri said brightly as Mai and Naru stepped inside. The girl was sitting at a tea table, her back turned to them. Her long indigo hair was curled, and pulled into a half-ponytail with a blue ribbon. She looked more like she was six instead of fifteen.

"Hi," Mai said. "My name is Mai. Are you having tea? May I join?"

The girl didn't move or give any indication that she heard Mai. She turned to look at Kiri, the maid nodded. Mai took a seat in front of Koaimi but she girl turned away.

"It's okay, I won't bite," Mai said. "You may be lucky if I don't talk your ears off." Mai giggled, but stopped when the girl continued to look away. "My name's Mai. What's yours?"

Koaimi turned slightly so Mai could see one of her purple eyes. Either Koaimi took most of the German blood, or because of her lack of sleep and food, she was unusually pale. It contrasted nicely with her dark licorice hair and red-than-normal lips though. Koaimi turned her head so that she was looking at Mai fully, a faraway look in her eyes.

"I..."

"She speaks," Kiri said, shocked. "I've never head her say something other then that horrid phrase."

"Kiko," Koaimi said, her eyes tearing. "What are they doing to me?"

Mai blinked in surprise. It wasn't quite the reaction she had expected.


	3. Chapter Two: Koaimi’s Apparition

**_Ghost Hunt: _Curse of the Relics**

_Chapter Two: Koaimi's Apparition_

_"Kiko, what are they doing to me?"_

_This chapter is dedicated to Llamas Are Sexy and Moondagger666, my late reviewers and the two people who have the coolest names in the world! Love ya:P_

_-Katrina Izumi09_

_P.S: I will always have grammar mistakes in my stories, but I always go back to fix them every time I'm finished with a story. So enjoy and make the best of it! And sorry for any major typos in this story. I was listening to Relient K, Queen, and 'Live and Learn' (SA2:B, Shadow and Rouge will forever rock XD) while making the chapter!_

* * *

"Please excuse her," Rebecca said, blushing. "I hadn't realized how damaged she was."

"It's not a problem," Monk-san said, laughing. "Mai's face was priceless!"

Mai, Naru, Monk-san, Lin, Rebecca and Kiri were sitting in the large living, sipping iced tea. After Koaimi had called Mai 'Kiko,' she had gone into a fit of tears and Kiri rushed to calm down Koaimi while Naru dragged Mai downstairs. Koaimi was now sitting at her table upstairs, staring at her empty porcelain teakettle. Mai didn't need her powers to know Rebecca was really worried about her daughter. Mai put down her cold drink and cleared her throat.

"Has your daughter always been like this?"

Monk-san was about to tell Mai off for being insensitive until he saw the serious look on her face. Rebecca looked up and sighed.

"Well...she is different from other people," Rebecca said, acting as if she had something hard to say.

_No kidding_, Monk-san thought, but realized he sounded just like Naru. "What kind of 'different'?"

"You and your husband are both psychics, right?" Naru said calmly. His legs were crossed, and he was sipping tea with his eyes closed. Rebecca blushed and looked down at her expensive shoes.

"Yes. I was the PK and he was the ESP. I have PK-ST and PK-MY, and he was a telepathic."

_No way!_ Mai thought. _They've had both types living under the same roof?_ "That's why you did research, right?" Mai asked, remembering their library full of books. "You were researching each others powers."

"We were going to write a book to help young psychics," Rebecca nodded. "However, just as we discovered more to Koba's telepathy, he got sick and died."

_Creepy_. "A book for for young psychics?" Mai asked. "Like Ai-chan?"

"And Rei-chan," Rebecca said, looking at her hands. "Until both...disappeared."

"You say Koaimi-kun has been acting this way since you found her after her visit to the graveyard?" Naru said, setting his cup down and leaning forward. "I want to know, what powers do Reimi and Koaimi have?"

"Rei-chan has the power of PK-ST, and I was teaching her PK-MT until she vanished," Rebecca said. She hesitated, but sighed and continued. "And it seems Koaimi inherited both the PK and ESP abilities. She has all three PKs, and telepathy. Koba taught her clairvoyant ESP, but she wasn't able to finish her lesson because of my husband's...early departure."

"Amazing!" Mai and Monk-san said together. Naru cleared his throat and pondered over what to say next.

"That's why you keep her hidden in her room?"

Rebecca sighed and blushed sadly before nodding. "Yes. I'm afraid she might hurt someone else, or herself. There has been a history of trauma in the ESP family. Most of my in-laws died in their mid-thirties, just like Koba. And having a sick girl with telepathy isn't really safe. That's why all my maids and cooks are young psychics who were rejected on the streets as little kids. Like Kiri, here."

Kiri blushed and nodded. "It's true. Mistresses Reimi and Koaimi found me in their garage when they were still wearing diapers. I felt so happy to work here because my family didn't want a 'freak' in their home."

"She may have clairvoyant powers, but she has enough mental skill to block out the worst of Ai-chan's telepathy," Rebecca added, surprisingly happy for the first time. "Since they've been together for so long. It breaks my heart to see her this way."

"Tell me how your husband died," Naru said, getting to the point. "This may help with our investigation."

Rebecca turned her head to the side; her blonde curls spilling over her shoulders. Mai noticed the resemblance between Rebecca and her daughter, Rebecca had blonde hair and blue eyes, like your stereotype German, and the only thing they had in common were their face structure.

"Well, it's quite complicated to explain, but..." Rebecca hesitated.

"It'll help with the case," Naru said, persuading her to continue.

"Naru-chan," Mai said softly. Rebecca's eyes started to tear up.

"I think it's better if you don't," Monk-san said. "Kiri-chan, if you could take Shino-sama to her room."

Kiri nodded and helped the crying woman up. As soon as they left the room, Naru turned to them, his death glare on his face.

"We were about to get the confession out of her," Naru said.

"We were about to break a woman's heart," Mai argued stubbornly. "When she tells us about it, we don't want her breaking down. This is a serious matter, Naru. Not a scientific experiment."

Mai wondered where she had worked up the courage to do that, and wondered how long she had to live, but was surprised when Naru let out a sigh.

"You're right. Well, it seems we won't get anything out of her for awhile, Monk-san and Lin, both of you go around the neighborhood and see what you can find out about her husband's death and Reimi."

Monk and Lin nodded then left the room. Naru turned to look at Mai.

"I'm going to interview the maids. Try not to fall asleep."

_Whatever you egotistical brat_, Mai thought angrily. "Yes, boss."

When Naru left the room, Mai flipped through papers. Maybe if she had the chance, she could snag a newspaper from the kitchen rack or go to the nearby newspaper station and get an old article. Mai automatically felt tired and she stretched.

_Typical,_ she thought. _I'm going to fall asleep, dream of Naru, which I'm _still _trying to find out why, and find something about this house._

* * *

Mai found herself in the house hallway, and wondered for a second how she got there.

"This can't be a dream," Mai said. "It feels so real." She realized she hadn't said the words, only thought them, but they felt real. What was going on?

"Kiko."

Mai spun around and found Koaimi standing there, her violet eyes were full of life and sparkling.

"Ai-chan," Mai said, or thought. "Why are you out of your room?"

"I need our help, Mai," Koaimi said. Her voice was full of life compared to when she had mistaken Mai for Kiko.

"What's going on?" Mai asked, surprised. "You're not..."

"I'm communicating to you through telepathy," Koaimi said hurriedly. "She won't get out of my body."

"Telepathy?" Mai said. "How-wait, how come you're not...?"

"Because she's possessing me," Koaimi said. "She won't leave until she finds the one. Mai-san, I'm scared. The same thing happened to my father. Everyone's scared, Mai-san. Everyone's blocked out my telepathy, and the only one I could get through was you."

"I have this thing called 'latent sensitivity,'" Mai explained, wanting to get her answers out. Koaimi's eyes widened.

"Rei-chan had that too. She was able to get away from the cemetery using her instincts, but just as I followed her I blacked out, and the next thing I knew I was prisoner in my own body. I don't have long, I'm not sure how long I can keep this connection until someone finds your body and looks at you. Telepathy isn't a pretty thing. Mai-chan, you have to find Rei-chan, she'll be in her childhood spot waiting for me, and tell her Kiko is-"

Koaimi's eyes widened and she clutched her head and screamed. "No! Not yet, you can't break the connection now!"

Mai heard a loud noise ringing in her ears. She fell to her knees, closing her ears, but the noise came from inside her head. Koaimi was right, telepathy wasn't a pretty thing.

"Please stop," Mai begged as the noise increased in volume. "I wanna go home, I can't take this!"

"Mai-chan?"

As if these were the magic words, the noise stopped. Mai opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Naru's face. She jumped away, wondering if she was dreaming, until she realized she was in the study.

"I wasn't sleeping," Mai said, wondering if the expression she had saw on his face just now was real.

"You're crying, Mai," Naru said, tossing a box of tissues at her. "And there's a reason I told you to block your mind. What would've happened if Rebecca-san and Kiri hadn't gone into Koaimi's room?"

"I'm sorry I was the victim," Mai said sarcastically, sighing. "Have we got any news yet?"

"Yes," Naru said, turning around and handing her an old yellowed newspaper article. "Koba Shino died of brain damage."


	4. Chapter Three: The Truth About Kiko?

**_Ghost Hunt: _Curse of the Relics**

_Chapter Three: The Truth About Kiko?_

"_That's why you keep her hidden in her room?"_

_Hey guys! Once again I'm delaying (and procrastinating) in trying to finish my story, but here's the next chapter. Enjoy, and this is for all of (us) hardcore Ghost Hunt fans!! XD_

_Xoxo, _

_Katrina Izumi_

"Mai."

Mai paused in the hallway, wondering who had called her name. She looked around the dim-lighted corridor for a light switch, but she could already see a shadowy figure at the end of the hallway. Mai abandoned her search for a light switch and made her way to the figure.

"Koaimi?" Mai asked, her heart throbbing. She was disappointed when Naru came into view, a smile plastered on his lips. Mai exhaled.

"It's just you."

"The will-o'-the-wisps," Naru said. Mai looked up, startled. Then she realized she was only dreaming. Mai looked around and found she was floating in the sky above the house.

"But," Mai said, frowning as she looked around. "I don't see any wisps in the house."

"Over there," Naru said, pointing beyond the house to the west. Mai followed his finger and saw what he was looking at.

_The cemetery._

The cemetery was covered with will-o'-the-wisps, and not positive ones either. She felt herself shuddering despite of herself and she turned to look at Naru. He was looked away from the cemetery at her, the same expression on his face that he had after Mai and Koaimi's connection broke. Mai turned from him.

"That look makes it seem as if my dreams are real," she said, sadly. She took another look at Naru, the expression still there. His eyes were soft and gentle, his lips, which were usually in a smirk or sneer, had a frown in it. He looked worried.

"Over there," Naru said, pointing just a little bit past the graveyard. "That's where she'll be."

"Who?" Mai asked, frowning.

"Taniyama-san? Are you awake?"

Mai's eyes snapped open and she sat up. She had fallen asleep on Rebecca's bed with Monk-san guarding her. After Koaimi's telepathic message, Naru and Rebecca had put enchants around the room to keep her and Mai from connecting again.

Instead of Monk standing there, John Brown was gazing at her, a frown on his face.

_What's up with everyone?_ Mai thought, sighing. _Why's everyone so worried?_

It then hit her. The last thing she had remembered was skimming through the article Naru had given her, and then she blanked out. Well, sort of. She could remember passing out and then the dream had happened.

"What happened?" Mai asked, closing her eyes and rubbing her now-aching head.

"Shibuya-san called me last night to watch you," John the priest said. "He said something about you…acting weird."

Mai's eyes snapped open. "Are you talking about Koaimi's…. telepathy?" _I can't say message…she asked me to do this alone…_

Something clicked in Mai's brain. _That'_s what Dream-Naru was pointing to. Where Mai would meet Reimi.

"Mai?!" John said as Mai sprung to her feet and dashed out of the room. Mai sped down the hall. She had to find Reimi, she was the only one who could fix this. She took the large marble stairs two at a time…Mai crashed into something and tumbled down the rest of the stairs. She heard a squeal next to her as she got to her knees and groaned.

"Taniyama-san?" said a familiar voice. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry Kiri-san," Mai said as her vision focused once again. The maid smiled at her as she stood up. She reached into her apron and pulled out a cotton ball, tape, and a roll of bandage. Mai realized that she had burned her knees, and it hurt just as bad as if she had burned her hand on the stove.

"That was quite a fall, Mai-san," Kiri said as she put Mai on her back and started dabbing the burn with the cotton ball and some weird powder. Mai held back a gasp and she just nodded.

"How about you? I was going at full speed."

"I'm fine," Kiri said as she unwound the bandage and started wrapping Mai's knee. "Unfortunately, I saw you coming. I was only trying to stop you, but you seemed like you were in a hurry."

"I was…am," Mai said as Kiri helped her to her feet. "Thanks."

"If you're going to the graveyard, please be careful," Kiri said, frowning. Mai froze and gulped.

"H-how did you-?"

"I'm only psychic, remember," Kiri said, winking. "Just watch yourself."

"Kiri," Mai hesitated. She didn't know if she would get an answer, but she had to. "Who's Kiko?"

"Kiko?" Kiri said, her usual cheerful face had hardened. "Kiko was the child of Koba-sama's first marraige. Kiko was about your age."

"Where is she now?" Mai asked, her excitement rushed through her veins.

" Well, she died two years before Koba-sama married Rebecca-san. One day Kiko disappeared. Koba-sama and Kiko's mother, Anzu I believed, were devastated when they found Kiko's dead body bathing in her own blood in their upstairs bathtub. The bathroom mirror was shattered and apparently, Kiko had sacrificed herself for some boy after he, too, committed suicide. It wasn't pretty, Mai-san, but how Koaimi found out about her half-sister is beyond me."

Mai didn't need a mirror to see the expression on her own face. Kiri put the first-aide stuff back in her apron and she walked off. Mai felt a shudder go down her spine, despite the fact that it was the hottest week of the year. Instead of heading for the front door, she turned and went back up the stairs, ignoring the pain in her knee. She turned to go back into Rebecca's room, but she had walked into the study instead. Naru and Lin looked up from their monitor screens as she walked in. Lin frowned and stood up from the chair.

"Mai-chan? Are you okay?" Lin asked. Mai looked at him. Her face must've been pale as a sheet. She wondered why the truth about Kiko had affected her so much. Mai swaggered in, wondering if she was going to throw-up or burst out crying. Instead, she sat down on one of the large leather sofas and picked up a book. Naru and Lin looked at each other, but they returned to monitoring the house. Mai looked at the book. It was really old, almost 18 years old. According to what Kiko had said, Rebecca and Koba must've just gotten together when they had written this. Mai opened the book and looked at the acknowledgments.

_To mother and father Weisse, ich leibe euch!_

Weisse. It was obviously Rebecca's maiden name. There was another line under that one and Mai's heart almost stopped:

_In loving memory of Kiko, our model for this book._

Mai dropped the book, causing Lin and Naru to spin around and look at her. Her hand was over her mouth and small tears leaked from the corner of her eyes.

"Mai?" Naru said. Mai didn't need to look at him to know. He had that same expression from her dream.

"Take me home," she said, softly. "I can't do this anymore. Take me home."

"Mai, what's wrong?" Naru said in his usual bossy tone. "Something's got you spooked and it could help us solve this case."

"Take me home!" she screeched. That did it, tears were falling from her eyes like waterfalls and she was gasping and sobbing. Someone had stood up from his chair, Lin obviously, and walked over to Mai and hugged her. She cried into his chest, wanting the secret to escape from her like her tears. When she finished crying she rubbed her eyes she pulled away from Lin.

"Thank you," she said as she tried to blink the rest of the tears from her eyes. She saw Lin's blurry figure pull a handkerchief from his jacket and hand it to Mai. She rubbed her eyes and blew her nose. By then, John and Monk had walked into the room.

"Any new news?" asked Naru. Mai eyes snapped open. Had he-?

Mai looked over her handkerchief and she almost choked on her spit. It hadn't been Lin who had comforted her.

It had been Naru.


	5. Chapter Four: Race of the Psychics I

_**Ghost Hunt: **_**Curse of the Relics**

_Chapter Four: Race of the Psychics Part 1_

"_In memory of Kiko, our model for this book"_

_Major Update!_

_

* * *

_

"Mai!" screamed the redheaded girl as Mai was flung aside like a hopeless rag doll. "Get up! You promised me we could do this!"

"We need Koaimi," Mai said as she stood back up, wiping the blood from her mouth. "Reimi, can't you channel a message to her?!"

"I'm a psychokinetic psychic, not an extrasensory user!" the redheaded girl, Reimi, called. She ran next to Mai and braced herself for another impact. The spirits swarmed around them violently, ready to strike again.

"Where's the lead one?" Mai asked as she and Reimi stood back to back.

"The lead one?" Reimi asked, wondering if she was joking. "How should I know? Why should I care? We're about to turn into evil-spirit-feed and you're worried about who the Big Daddy is?"

"If we find the leader then we can demolish the clones," Mai said, backing closer to Reimi as the spirits around them started to swarm in a tighter circle. "I read it in your aunt's book."

"Oh," Reimi said, remembering. "Well, any ideas? They're moving too fast for me to look. _You're_ the one with latent sensitivity anyway!"

Mai bit her lip, wishing she could use her powers like Reimi could. _Why did I leave the mansion?_ Mai thought as the spirits got closer to them. _I wish I hadn't made Naru take this case!_

-----

_**6 hours ago…**_

"I really wish you could stay longer, Mai," Rebecca said, bowing. Her blonde curls fell on her shoulders. "I loved your company."

"If I'm allowed I'll come back," Mai said, bowing back. Rebecca stood back us and smiled warmly.

"Of course, I'll be waiting for you."

Mai waved as she stepped into the Shino's expensive car. She rolled down the window and waved back.

"Take care, Mai-san," Rebecca said. Mai nodded and Kiri turned on the ignition to the car. They pulled out of the driveway and it was quite some while before they said something to each other.

"I thank you for taking our case," the maid said as she looked at Mai through the rear view mirror. Mai didn't say anything. She looked out of the window, her reflection showed a guilty and sad expression. She felt like crying again, but she had done enough of that. All she had done was get in the way and hold onto too many secrets. She wished she had told Naru or Monk about what she had learned, but she was too scared for some reason. The last thing she remembered after she had cried was Rebecca and Kiri walking into the study, worried expressions on their faces. Rebecca had opened her mouth to say something, but Mai passed out from exhaustion.

Or, so she thought.

Ayako Matsuzaki, a self-proclaimed Miko, or assistant to a Shinto priestess had nudged Mai awake two hours later when Mai Kiri volunteered to take Mai home. Mai had found that she was once again in Rebecca's bedroom, but instead of feeling replenished from her nap, she felt scared and she jumped at everything. Even when Lin sneezed.

"You're assistant to a very rich person, aren't you?" Kiri pushed again, hoping to start a conversation. "You probably make more money then your parents, huh?"

Mai remained silent again. She knew Kiri's intentions were good but there was too much pain to go around. Her eyes widened when she saw that she was still clinging to the old book from the library. With a shaking hand, she opened it and saw the same line from a few hours ago:

"_In loving memory of Kiko…"_

"Did you say something?" the maid asked as she looked at Mai again through the mirror.

"Kiko," Mai said, the word rolling through her head. Her imagination came in photographs: _darkness, a scream, a door creaking open, a dark bathroom, a bathtub full of blood, a dead corpse…_

"Stop the car, please," Mai said as she snapped the book shut. Kiri slammed the breaks, making the cars behind them swerve and honk at them.

"Mai, I'm supposed to take you home, where are you going?"

Mai threw the passenger door open, and snagged her book and jacket. She slammed the door shut, cutting off Kiri's protests, and took off running. She kept running for what seemed like hours, until she reached the middle of downtown. She panted and turned around, hoping the Shino maid wasn't behind her. When Mai realized she wasn't, her epinephrine drained away and dehydration set in. She looked around for shade, but her vision blurred as a heatstroke was about to take over. She swaggered as she walked, a couple of people glanced at her, thinking she was high.

"I-need-help," Mai whispered as she tried to focus her vision. _This day officially sucks_, she said as she collapsed on the cobblestone sidewalk.


	6. Chapter Five: Race of the Psychics II

**_Ghost Hunt: _Curse of the Relics**

_Chapter Five: Race of the Psychics Part 2_

"_A memorable quote: You can't be a good person if you do bad things…-Terry Pratchett"_

"Hey Naru," Mai said, grinning up at him. She was back on Rebecca's bed and seemed a bit relieved to be back.

"You don't have a lot of time, Mai," Naru said, the Expression was on his face again. "You have to find Reimi before the full moon comes back out."

"But how?" Mai asked. She sighed sadly as she realized she was only dreaming…again. "Kiko," Naru said softly. Mai sat up and glared at him.

"The only thing I want to do right now is forget this whole thing happened, got it?"

Naru looked at her as if examining her. "Do you know _why_ you're so scared?"

"I'm a coward," Mai said simply as she slid off the bed, wondering how she could wake up from this dream.

"Mai, don't forget about your powers," Naru warned. "It'll be the only thing that can save you, Koaimi, and Reimi from Kiko."

Mai looked at him, surprised. Before she could open her mouth to answer he backed away into the shadows. Mai was jerked up into the air and she floated through the roof. When she landed again she was in a bathroom. She saw a girl, about her own age, leaning over the sink. She was pale and sweating, her eyes widened.

"_Get out of me!" _the girl shouted angrily at her reflection. "_Nicholas, please. There has to be some other way!"_

_Who's talking to? _Mai thought looking around. She then realized where she was. That girl was Kiko Shino. Kiko looked up and she squeezed her eyes shut, but they were forced open by something. The mirror on the bathroom shattered from psychic energy and Mai realized the girl had used her PK powers to break it.

"_Nicholas, stop!"_ Kiko shouted in fear she picked up a piece of glass and climbed into the bathtub. _"Please, there has to be some other way! My mom and dad are psychic researchers, they'll find a way to bring you back!"_

Mai watched in horror as the girl slit her wrists with the mirror. Kiko screamed in pain, pleading for "Nicholas" to stop. Mai didn't know what to do. Instead she ran over to Kiko, reaching for her arms, but Mai only went through. Instead, Mai felt another presence inside Kiko. Mai jumped back as Kiko raised the piece of glass above her head.

"Stop, Nicholas!" Mai yelled, but knew it was useless. Nicholas was possessing Kiko. "Stop it! Killing her won't make things better!"

Mai watched as Kiko brought the glass down to her throat, a river of blood gushed out. Mai tried to close her eyes, but she watched as Kiko screamed, her eyes rolling in fear and pain.

Finally Kiko collapsed in the bathtub.

Mai grabbed onto the sink for support, but she fell through. She slid to the ground; her short skirt was starting to soak in blood.

"Koaimi," Mai said, panting. "I've seen enough to last ten thousand people. Please, I'm not sure what to do anymore. You have to help me out."

A book fell down from the ceiling, splashing into a puddle of blood. Some splashed onto Mai's face, but she reached for the bloodstain book. The title read "Race of the Psychics." Mai opened the book and she read the acknowledgement:

_In loving memory of Kiko, my first and precious daughter._

Mai frowned and looked at it. It was the same book she had been carrying around but it had a different acknowledgement. Mai opened it up, but a strange glow was shining on the book, making it glow. Mai looked up at the window and spotted it; a golden moon.

Relic Night.

"Misses, are you awake?"

Mai's eyes opened up and she found herself in a strange bedroom. An old man and woman were looking at her, a worried look on their face.

"We were afraid you had died or something," the old man said.

"Such nonsense," the old woman huffed, smacking her husband. "It's too hot to be running around like that, dear."

"Relic Nigt," Mai said, looking around. "Where's my book?"

"This old thing?" the old woman asked pulling her book out from under her apron. "Such a nice read. It's great to have had Koba and Rebecca living in the same area as us."

Mai finally realized she was sleeping in an old guestroom. The old people must've taken her in when she fainted. Mai bowed and took the book. She skimmed through the book and came to chapter titled "Relic Night."

"Would you like something to eat?" the old woman asked. "You're lucky you passed out in front of a bakery."

Mai looked up and nodded. When the old couple left she went back to her reading.

---

"Mai!" Reimi screeched as the spirits charged at her. Mai pushed Reimi to the ground as they flew over them.

"Where's Kiko?" Mai asked as she dragged them to their feet. "If we can't find her before midnight Koaimi could die!"

"I don't know!" Reimi asked, shaken from fear. "The only thing I know is that if we can't escape we're dead!"

Mai sighed and turned. She gasped and pushed Reimi to the ground, but the force caused her to topple backwards, and she flipped over a tombstone, landing on her neck.

"Mai!" Reimi screamed as she jumped to her feet.

To Be continued…


	7. Chapter Six: Race of the Psychics III

_**Ghost Hunt: The Cursed Relics**_

**Chapter Six: Race of the Psychics, Part III**

_Hey guys! Wow, I've totally forgotten to finish my story . for all you long awaited fans, here it is, and I hope to finish this up!! (Again, I beg for your forgiveness on bended knees DX)_

_love, Katrina_

"_If we destroy the original, we can get rid of the clones…"_

* * *

"Why don't you understand, Kiko? Come with me, we can run away from all this!"

A handsome young man stood, staring at a young woman who was crying at herself in the bathroom mirror.

"No, Nicolas, I can't just run away from home. I had a fight with my mom, that's all."

"You used your powers against her," Nicolas said, leaning against the doorframe. "You know she holds grudges, especially since she's not a psychic and her daughter is. She's jealous of you; she's going to find a way to get rid of you. Besides, your dad has been eyeing that Rebecca Weisse chick. I heard that he's already filing divorce papers."

"He's not like that!" Kiko argued back, her mascara running down her cheeks. She gave a small chuckle at her appearance. "I look like a raccoon…a symbol of a bandit…"

Nicolas crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Kiko grab toilet paper and wipe her face of the running makeup.

"Run away with me, you'll never have to see your mother again…ever…"

Kiko stopped cleaning her cheeks. She looked at him through the bathroom mirror; a solemn look was masked on his face. A glint appeared in her eyes. Hope, possibly?

"No," the woman said, shaking her head and then splashed her face with cold water. "No, I can't go with you. What would we do? Start a new life together? We're only 16 and I'm barely making it through school."

"Maybe," Nicolas said, stepping into the bathroom to stand behind Kiko. "If you'd stop acting like a rebel and actually put your efforts into studying you'd actually be able to get a decent part-time job. Don't worry about the financial issues, we can work that out."

He traced something with his finger on the back of her neck, sending a shudder down her spine. She turned around to look at him. No, not _look_ at him.

_Glare at him._

"You're using me," she accused, her eyes fixed with anger. "You're going to show me off as a freak and have me on display like a helpless animal."

A flicker of surprise flashed in Nicolas' eyes, but it vanished as soon as it had come. "A premonition of your, perhaps?" He stepped back, away from her, and looked at her now, that sweet tone in his voice had vanished, now replaced with anger matching Kiko's.

"Only too well," Kiko said as she pushed past him towards the door. It shut by itself as Kiko reached the door frame. She reached for the door handle and jerked. The door was locked. Kiko whirled around to face her boyfriend, fury in her eyes.

"Open it," she said quietly, keeping herself from yelling.

"We're not through here," Nicolas said, crossing his arms over his chest. He brushed a strand of black hair from his ivory face. "You haven't said you'd come with me."

"Because I don't want to," Kiko answered. She needed to keep him distracted for another minute or so…she needed to build enough power…

"Hmm," he said. Kiko gasped, hoping he hadn't been able to read her mind. Well, he was only a PK user, after all. "You came to me, crying, wanting to get away from your mother. Now, here you are, crying because you're so confused. What matters more to you? Starting a new life with me, or staying in this hell with your mother?"

Kiko paused for a moment. A small _crackle_ was heard, but luckily the man paid no mind.

"When it comes down to that," Kiko said after a silent spell. "I want to continue living in this hell I'm in already rather than be a fortune teller in some freak circus."

"Kimiko," Nicolas demanded his voice loud and angry. Kiko gasped, almost loosing the power she had collected. No one called her that except her mother… "You will come with me or I'll drag you with my PK, do you understand me?"

"NO!" Kiko screamed. She unleashed her powers on the lock, throwing the door open in a gale of wind. Kiko was thrown into the hallway by her own magic. When she managed to recover, she looked into the bathroom. The door was hanging on one hinge, and the sink had been blown off; water gushed out of the piped onto the tiled floor. The window glass had been destroyed as if someone had been flung…

"Nick!" Kiko shouted as maids and butlers scrambled into the hallway to find out what the commotion had been about. The teenager jumped to her feet and ran to the window. She put her hand over her mouth and tears slid down her cheeks.

"Oh no, oh my…oh god…"

"My baby!" a shrill voice called. Kiko paid no mind to her parents as they entered the bathroom. Anzu Shino hugged her daughter, looking at the wreck.

"Did he do this?" Koba Shino asked, ushering the servants to get back to work.

Kiko opened her mouth, but the only sound that came out was a sob.

"That boy!" Anzu said, wiping a cut on Kiko forehead. "I told you he was no good. Those damn PK powers, aren't your ESP powers supposed to help you?"

Kiko pointed at the window, and then ran to the toilet and vomited. Anzu and Koba looked at each other before peering out of the window. Anzu put her hand over her mouth. Koba shook his head before looking at Kiko.

"He had too much power. I'm just glad you weren't in his place."

"I've-I've-" Kiko felt her stomach get weak again, but she held it back. "He's dead!"

Koba patted her head gently. "It's alright; it's not your fault. He was trying to kidnap you. I had a small vision, but I couldn't comprehend it until now."

"I didn't think he'd die," Kiko said, gulping in air. She stood back up, her legs weak. "But you're right, he's a bad guy."

"_Young lady?"_

"Come now, let's talk this over, I'm sure there's a reason."

"_Young lady?"_

"Okay dad, but I'm not sure if I can do this-"

"**YOUNG LADY!"**

-----

Mai gasped as she came out of her dream. She took one look at her surroundings and screamed as she jumped backwards. She had been standing on top of the bakery roof, about to jump off.

"What-how? I was reading that book last I remember…how did I get here?"

"A spirit," the old woman said, her eyes wide behind her thick glasses. "Possessed you."

"Huh?" Mai said, wondering if she was joking. Her sense of humor was as old as her age.

"It's true," her husband said, his eyes just as wide as the woman's. "You were yelling something about 'Nicolas' and 'circus freaks.' It was quite funny until you ran up here and almost jumped off."

"I was…possessed?" Mai asked, frowning. "But how? I don't remember-" Mai stopped mid-sentence. Could that be what had happened at the mansion? When she had blacked out in the study…was Koaimi possessing her?

"_Koaimi's a wonderful child_," a voice said. No wait, it came from inside Mai's head.

"You're a psychic?" Mai asked. The old man laughed and pointed to his wife.

"She's the psychic. She loved that Kimiko Shino; Kiko came over everyday to ask how to enhance her powers. She loved my bear claw donuts."

"Neither Koaimi nor Kiko possessed you," the woman said, seriously. "It'll have to be that evil boy, Nicolas. He was so mean and cruel; I always wondered what Kiko saw in him."

"But that was over a decade ago," Mai said. "Why is he choosing to possess me _now_? And why _me_?"

"Ah, she asks as many questions as Kiko once did," the woman said, a smile on her face appeared at the warm memories. "Well, darling, it's Relic Night. I'm not sure why it's called 'night' though. It's a week long 'festival.'"

"It's basically the time in which evil spirits are allowed to roam the Earth," the old man interrupted. "I'm going to slug whoever came up with that 'holiday.'"

"So…this 'evil spirit-?" Mai said but she was interrupted by the couple again.

"Nicolas."

_Wow, they said that at the same time… _"Nicolas…he possesses me? What does he want?"

"Well, I have two theories," the old woman said. "Nicolas seems to have a thing for woman with ESP powers, especially the clairvoyance type. He's probably trying to get your body and powers; you are a psychic, yes?"

Mai shrugged. "I suppose you could say that."

"The second one isn't any prettier," the old man said. "He's probably trying to destroy Kiko's soul. My wife and I are probably the only ones who know Nicolas killed her. He's seeking revenge on her and using you as a puppet to kill Koaimi and Reimi. If he can destroy the bond that keeps Kiko to Earth she'll either become a harmless earth bound spirit (jibakurei) and Nicolas will be able to overpower her. Or…"

The woman shuddered. "She'll turn evil."

Mai frowned. She felt a rush of adrenaline surge through her, waiting adventure. "Where is the cemetery?"

"_Patience, my child. You have to be careful or you'll-"_

"I don't care!" Mai shouted, trying to shake the woman out of her head. "Tell me, please? I can help exorcize Nicolas and then we'll focus on everything else!"

The old man shook his head and sighed. "You'll only get hurt."

The old lady smiled. "She has great enthusiasm. The cemetery is on the outskirts of the town. Tell Reimi that she has done a great job, but now she needs the help of others. Good luck."

Mai nodded and hugged them before she ran down into the guest room and grabbed her items. She flung the bakery door open and ran past couples who jumped out of her way as she flew past them.

_Hang on Koaimi,_ Mai thought as blood continued to pump through her body. The pain in her knee from the accident yesterday seemed to have gone away with her rush of epinephrine. _You too Reimi. And you, Kiko. I will get rid of that asshole of a boyfriend. Just wait for me…_


	8. Chapter Seven: Relic Moon

_**Ghost Hunt: The Cursed Relics**_

**Chapter Seven: Relic Night**

"_Wait for me…I'm coming…"_

* * *

"Mai!" 

"I'm fine," Mai said, staggering to her feet. She rubbed her neck painfully. "Go for the third from the left."

"What?" Reimi asked, running to her side. "What are you-? The original!"

"Hurry!" Mai shouted as the spirits swarmed towards them. Reimi built up her energy and send a wave of power at the ghost. Its white eyes widened, and it, and the clones, vanished in a puff of black smoke. Mai sighed, her muscles aching again. "Man, this was fun."

"Speak for yourself," Reimi said, smiling at her. Her eyes widened in horror as she peered over Mai's shoulder. Mai looked back.

An army of evil spirits started surrounding them…

---

_30 minutes ago…_

"I wish I never left the mansion."

Mai stopped to rest against a gravestone, rubbing her knee. Her pain had come back, on top of the burning in her lungs and her throbbing calves. A snapping of a twig caused Mai to look up. She caught a flash of fuchsia before it disappeared behind a tree.

"Hey, wait!" Mai called, running to catch up but cried as her calves protested. "Hey!"

"Go away!" a voice called from above her. Mai looked up in the tree. She caught a pair of green eyes glaring at her. "You're not welcome here!"

"Reimi Shino?" Mai called, looking at the young girl in the tree. The pair of green eyes widened.

"Who are you? Do you work for Nicolas?"

"No," Mai said, smiling at her. "I work for Kiko. She sent me to watch over you."

Reimi jumped down from the tree, Mai gasping as the girl landed in a crouch before standing back up. "Kiko? Hmm…the last time I heard that Koaimi turned into a puppet. Why should I trust you?"

"Look," Mai said, laughing nervously as she avoided the girl's death stare. "I'm trying to help you out, whether you trust me or not is entirely up to you, but I'm going to stay even if you like me or not."

Reimi nodded. That answer seemed to satisfy her. "Are you a psychic?"

"I suppose," Mai sighed. How many times had she heard that since she started the case? "You are though, I've heard."

Reimi beamed at her, nodding. "Not as good as Ai-chan, though. But she has both ESP and PK, and she's always being used as research material in my uncle and auntie's books. She doesn't like it very much, but she has gotten a lot stronger than when we were little."

"You really like being a psychic, huh Reimi-chan?" Mai asked her, a nagging feeling picking at her. Mai dismissed it as the young girl nodded, grinning.

"Everyone in this town is psychic. That's why it's a fun place to live in."

"Everyone, huh?" Mai said, obviously distracted by something. _What's going on, why does it feel…dark?_

"I came out here to exorcize these spirits," Reimi was saying, a blush on her face. "Unfortunately, when Koaimi and I came here the other night, there was a bunch of spirits devouring other spirits. Among them, a big spirit spotted me. It charged at me, but Koaimi got in the way of it. She started acting strange and she ran away from me. I've been here trying to find out what happened, but I'm sure auntie's worried about me."

"You're been exorcizing spirits?" Mai said, wondering whether to be relieved or impressed. "Big spirit? It was probably possessing Ai-chan…" _Nicolas._

"Who are you anyway?" Reimi asked Mai, frowning. "You claim to come to help me, but…"

"I'm with the Shibuya Psychic research center. My name's-"

"_You're_ Shibuya-sama?" Reimi asked, her eyes wide. "_The_ Ghost Hunter? I thought he was a he though…"

Mai laughed, nervously. "Haha, no. Nar- Shibuya-san is a he. I'm his part-timer, Mai Taniyama."

"Lucky," Reimi sighed, looking at her with envy. "It'd be nice to work with him. I want to be a psychic researcher when I grow up. I want to know all about curses and stuff."

"Yeah…" Mai gave her a fake smile. "It's the greatest thing ever…"

"Kiko is a cousin I never knew existed," Reimi said, a nervous smile on her face. "She came to us through Koaimi, and both of them bonded together and shared each other's power. But now…I haven't seen Koaimi since the cemetery but Kiko has been coming to me in my sleep. She says that Nicolas is trying to harm us. But I think he wants Kiko."

"We can do this," Mai said, smiling warmly and putting her hand on the young girl's arm. "We'll do this. Even if we can't, Naru will figure this out."

Reimi gave her a puzzled look. "Who?"

"I mean Shibuya-san," Mai said, blushing. "His nickname's Naru, because he's-"

"Behind you!"

Mai spun around as a group of dark cloud hurled towards them. Mai pushed Reimi out of the way but she received the full blast.

"Mai!" screamed the redheaded girl as Mai was flung aside like a hopeless rag doll. "Get up! You promised me we could do this!"

"We need Koaimi," Mai said as she stood back up, wiping the blood from her mouth. "Reimi, can't you channel a message to her?!"

"I'm a psychokinetic psychic, not an extrasensory user!" Reimi, called. She ran next to Mai and braced herself for another impact. The spirits swarmed around them violently, ready to strike again.

"Where's the lead one?" Mai asked as she and Reimi stood back to back.

"The lead one?" Reimi asked, wondering if she was joking. "How should I know? Why should I care? We're about to turn into evil-spirit-feed and you're worried about who the Big Daddy is?"

"If we find the leader then we can demolish the clones," Mai said, backing closer to Reimi as the spirits around them started to swarm in a tighter circle. "I read it in your aunt's book."

"Oh," Reimi said, remembering. "Well, any ideas? They're moving too fast for me to look. _You're_ the one with latent sensitivity anyway!"

Mai bit her lip, wishing she could use her powers like Reimi could. _Why did I leave the mansion?_ Mai thought as the spirits got closer to them. _I wish I hadn't made Naru take this case!_


	9. Chapter Eight: Exorcism schmexorcism

_**Ghost Hunt: The Cursed Relics**_

**Chapter Eight: Exorcism-Schmexorcism**

"_Imagine the damage that he could so with both powers…"_

---

"Mai!" Reimi screeched as the spirits charged at her. Mai pushed Reimi to the ground as they flew over them.

"Where's Kiko?" Mai asked as she dragged them to their feet. "If we can't find her before midnight Koaimi could die!"

"I don't know!" Reimi asked, shaken from fear. "The only thing I know is that if we can't escape we're dead!"

Mai sighed and turned. She gasped and pushed Reimi to the ground, but the force caused her to topple backwards, and she flipped over a tombstone, landing on her neck.

"Mai!" Reimi screamed as she jumped to her feet. "I'm fine," Mai said, staggering to her feet. She rubbed her neck painfully. "Go for the third from the left."

"What?" Reimi asked, running to her side. "What are you-? The original!"

"Hurry!" Mai shouted as the spirits swarmed towards them. Reimi built up her energy and send a wave of power at the ghost. Its white eyes widened, and it, and the clones, vanished in a puff of black smoke. Mai sighed, her muscles aching again. "Man, this was fun."

"Speak for yourself," Reimi said, smiling at her. Her eyes widened in horror as she peered over Mai's shoulder. Mai looked back. An army of evil spirits started surrounding them.

"Reimi! Stay close," Mai said as she stood back to back with her. _What do we do now?_ Mai put her fingers together and straightened her back.

"What are you doing?" Reimi demanded, her eyes wide. Mai closed her eyes and concentrated.

"'Nau Maku San Manda Bazara Dankan.'"

"Your flimsy counter spell won't stop them!" Reimi said, her voice full of fear. "We need to run."

"They'll just keep following us and we'll endanger the entire town," Mai argued back as she waved her hand.

"'Rin Pyou Tou Sha Kai Jin Retsu Zai Zen!'"

She moved her arm as if she was trying to swat at something, and the spirits were jerked back as a gust of wind had hit them. However, they recovered quickly. Mai sighed and tried again, putting her fingers together.

"Nau Maku San-"

"Mai!" Reimi said, clutching the hem of the girl's sweater, tears falling down her cheeks. "We have to run away, they're going to destroy us!"

"-Bazara Dankan!'" Mai waved her hand again and sighed. _She's right, but I can't endanger the entire city…oh, but what do I do? Why didn't I stay at the mansion?_

"…_Mai…_"

Mai gasped and stopped chanting. Reimi's sobbing stopped. _Who's in my mind?_

"…_Mai, watch out. We're coming to help you…_"

"Get away from them!"

Mai gasped again and pulled Reimi to the ground as Monk-san jumped from behind a grave and faced the spirits.

"'Nau Maku-'" he said, his face angry. Mai looked up as Naru bent down next to them.

"Let's get away from this place," Naru said as he helped Reimi to her feet.

"How'd you find us?" Mai asked Naru, Monk-san, and Lin-san when they were a safe distance away from the graveyard. Reimi had a look of shock on her face, and Ayako and Lin-san were trying to calm her down?

"I looked into this situation after you left," Naru said, looking out at the graveyard about a quarter of a mile away. "It turns out that Koaimi's body was hosting not one, but _two_ spiritual beings-"

"So she was being possessed?" Mai said, standing up and gently wiping blood from her skinned knees. "By Kiko?"

"And the spirit that killed Kiko," Monk-san said, doubled over panting. "Nicolas."

Mai felt her heart skip a beat. That dream Mai had…she was actually seeing the past, _Kiko's_ past at that. "What do we do?"

_We exorcize Nicolas_.

Mai turned around as a voice spoke into her head. Her eyes widened as she saw Koaimi standing there, her eyes still had that faraway look but her face had regained color and her face had the look of determination.

"_I really should be doing this alone. It is my fault this has happened._" Although Koaimi's lips were moving, Mai was sure that wasn't Ai-chan's real voice.

"No, it's not your fault. Nicolas came at you first," Mai said, her eyes saddened as her dream of Kiko's 'suicide' popped into her head. "We're here to help you, not blame you."

Koaimi/Kiko's face spread into a small grateful smile. "_I knew I was doing the right thing when I channeled my memory into your dreams._"

"I don't understand, why'd you choose Mai?" Ayako said, hands on her hip. "She's not a psychic medium or a psychometrist."

"Mai has latent sensitivity, a form of ESP," Naru explained as he looked at Koaimi. "Nicolas left Koaimi's body when Mai chose to leave the mansion, which was why Kiko was able to regain control again. Everyone thought that Kiko was the harmful spirit, including I, which was why our exorcisms didn't work."

"But why didn't Nicolas leave Ai-chan's body?" Monk-san said, standing up straight and frowning. "Ayako, John, and I _all_ did exorcisms."

Koaimi's eyelids dropped a little, giving her a sad look. "_It'd be my doing. After Nicolas' death, he kept making me regret not running away with him. I tried to exorcise his spirit, but because he was able to posses me and use my powers, he was able to develop an immunity to them. That's why he targeted Mai. He only possesses women with ESP powers, no matter how amateur they are._"

This explanation cleared up some things to Mai, like why she was always blacking out and a few things about Nicolas… "Why'd you choose him?"

Everyone, especially Koaimi/Kiko, looked up at Mai in surprise. A small grin spread on Koaimi's face as warm memories flooded her mind. "_He wasn't always…evil. We were friends since we could walk, and we started dating in the middle of junior high. He was so kind and sweet, I was lucky to have a friend like him. But…it wasn't until we started our freshman year that Nick started changing. I had assumed that it was a stage of puberty, but when we got into our sophomore year he hadn't changed, he'd only gotten worse._" Koaimi leaned against a tree, looking at the destruction in the graveyard. Although Koaimi and Kiko had totally different appearances (except for their eyes), Mai knew the person in front of her was Kimiko Shino, victim of destruction. Koaimi seemed to have read her mind, because she looked over at Mai, a warm smile on her face.

"_He wanted to use you to get back at me. If Nicolas can manage to get rid of my spirit, he'd be able to persuade Koaimi or Reimi into leaving their body, thus leaving him with unlimited powers. He especially wanted Koaimi because she's one of the few who can master both kinds of psychic powers._"

"So all he wants is to posses both kinds of power?" Naru asked, sighing. Koaimi nodded at him.

"_Imagine the kind of damage he could do with them_."

An image of a burning world filled Mai's memory. Peoples scream and roaring fire filled her ears. Mai shuddered. "So, we know we need to exorcise Nicolas' spirit, but how?"

Naru looked at Lin-san. Lin scratched his chin with his hand, thinking.

"How about a hitogata?" Ayako spoke up. "It's worked in our last few cases." _(Hitogata: an object replacement for human, _almost_ like a voodoo doll)_

Lin looked at Koaimi. He shook his head. "Nick or whatever will know it's a hitogata. He wants Kiko, or Koaimi. Unfortunately, we have both."

"So we're going to give up Koaimi?" Mai exclaimed, Monk-san gently patting her arm to calm her down.

"Don't be stupid," Naru said, looking past her. "I find this whole case farfetched, but we'll have to come up with something."

"He's just too anxious to save the world," Monk-san whispered to Mai. Mai felt the first real smile since she got onto the case spread on her face.

"_Why not send just me?_" Koaimi asked them. "_If I can manage to hold him off you guys can exorcise him._"

"What about your spirit?" Mai asked, frowning. "What if he absorbs you and becomes stronger? Or worse, if he possesses Koaimi once you leave and we accidentally banish you."

"Mai's right," Naru said. "We can't afford to lose you. You're the key to finishing this case, but we need to choose the right lock to open."

_Naru, you're such a workaholic, _Mai said, sighing. _But he did say I was right! Heehee!_ Mai looked over at Koaimi, who was wearing an amused smile. Mai turned away and blushed. She'd have to keep her thoughts on the down-low until Kiko exorcised…Mai turned back to look at the others, who were trying to come up with a plan.

"Um…can more than one person do an exorcism at the same time?" Mai asked, clearing her throat. Ayako raised an eyebrow.

"What do you think John, Monk-san, and I were doing?"

"I mean, combining powers, y'know?"

"I heard about that," Monk-san announced, snapping his fingers. "I was watching a psychic show on TV, where two people were 'joint-chanting.' They were holding hands and waving a strange charm."

"Joint-chanting," Lin-san repeated. "Joint-chanting is used when trying to exorcise the spirit of a loved one. That strange charm they were using is actually an item that once belonged to the spirit. It's dipped in incense, and then sprayed at the spirit. This exorcism is perfect because no spirit, no matter how powerful, can repel this. However, there are side effects. There has to be a minimum of 2 people and a maximum of a hundred people to do this. And, they all have to be willing to die for the spirit."

Mai's eyes widened. _Willing to _die?

"Plus," Lin-san said, continuing. "In all of Joint-chanting rituals, one of the members of the exorcism will have a 90 chance of dying. That's why it's not commonly practiced. People usually use this form of exorcism to commit suicide, or to kill their enemies or the elderly. The exorcism will fail if even _one_ of the members doesn't want to die." Lin-san looked at Mai. "And there's one more thing. Only extrasensory perceptive users can perform this type of exorcism."

Everyone's attention turned to Mai and Koaimi. Monk-san started protesting.

"We can't us Mai! She'll die if we do this."

"We'll all die if we _don't_ do this," Naru said. Ayako huffed.

"Hmph! So you'd rather kill Mai instead of finding someone else to do this?"

"It's our only shot," Naru said, glaring at her with his icy blue eyes. "And besides, we know Mai's powers are real. We can't have a stranger doing this. Don't you see? This was a great idea provided by Mai."

"So you'd let me die to save your butt?" Mai said, glaring at him. "Is that what I am?"

"You forgot one detail, Koaimi-chan is has two spirits inside of her," Naru said calmly. Mai's eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, but Kiko's already dead…"

Mai felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head a little to find Koaimi smiling at her.

"I assure you, I can absorb the curse," Kiko said. "However, I will need another host. Reimi is unsuitable for possession because her mind isn't strong enough to hold me inside for so long. Someone else with enough mental strength…"


	10. Chapter Nine: Home Free, Not Yet

**Ghost Hunt: The Cursed Relics**

**Chapter Nine: Home Free…Not Yet**

"_He's just too anxious to save the world."_

_Hey guys, Katrina here!_

_Sorry about my going AWOL, I procrastinated and procrastinated until eventually I ditched you guys…again. However, I forced myself to finish the story for you guys. After this, though, I'm going to put my second Ghost Hunt story on hold; I'm working on a Kingdom Hearts story now so I probably won't multitask now. Anyway, love you guys, and sorry to all my devoted fans:D_

_-Katrina.Izumi09_

* * *

"Who could that be?" Mai asked, a frown visible on her face despite the dark evening. No one there was as powerful as Koaimi, she had been able to house Kiko's spirit for almost a whole week!

"_It's quite simple,"_ Koaimi/Kiko said, her violet eyes landing on the one member of the crowd. Mai's eyes traveled with Koaimi's gaze and stopped on…

"Lin?" Ayako cried, not believing her. "Why Lin-san? I mean, I know he's been help in our cases, but-"

"_You have done this before,"_ Kiko said, not a question but rather a statement. Lin nodded.

"My grandfather's soul wouldn't go to rest, so my mother, brother, and dead aunt had to. My aunt absorbed the curse, but…"

"She turned into a demonic spirit," Naru finished, his face still as unemotional as usual.

"Wait! We can't let Kiko turn into a demon!" Mai said, spinning around to face the girl. "I really don't want to end up exorcising you!"

Koaimi gave a small smile, her blank eyes friendly. _"It's okay, I won't give in to the darkness. Besides, I'll end up in hell like Nicolas. I'll haunt him there for eternity while he goes crazy."_

A sad look crossed Mai's face, but she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked at the owner of the hand, Monk-san, who gave her a reassuring look.

"If Kiko's ready, then you have to be," Monk-san said. "How do we do this?"

Koaimi/Kiko took the pendant that was around her neck and tugged it. She held up the amber stone amulet; when light caught the stone it looked as if a fire was blazing inside the red-brown gem.

"_A gift from Nicolas," _Kiko explained, Koaimi's eyes somber. _"He gave it to me on the day of his death. He proposed to me that morning and my parents found out. I accidentally attacked my mother, but my dad came to my rescue. But they were fighting like I've never seen them fight before, that's why I was in the bathroom. Nicolas followed me and tried to persuade me to go with him…but I…"_

"I know," Mai said, putting her hand on Koaimi's arm. Reimi watched them with curiosity; she didn't know the truth about Kiko.

"I'll do it," Naru said, taking the amulet and wrapping it around his wrist. "Where do we set up?"

"_I need all of your help,"_ Kiko said, gazing at them. _"Takigawa-san, Brown-san, Matsuzaki-san, I'll need all of you to exorcise those dark spirits around Nicolas. Lin-san, you help perform the exorcism. I want to use the blood of Nicolas rather than holy water. Mai, Naru, Rei-chan…"_

"If we're going to do this, we better get moving," Monk-san said, looking at the graveyard. "I think Nicky wants you, Kiko."

Koaimi turned to look at Naru; she gently tapped the stone on her amulet. It started to shake and a small glow appeared; when it had finished shaking blood started to ooze from the middle.

"_Nicolas' blood,_" Kiko said, letting the red liquid drop on Koaimi's pale hands. Although Kiko was possessing Koaimi, Mai could tell how overloaded Koaimi looked. If Kiko didn't find a new host soon Koaimi would literally become a walking ghost.

"_Alright, let's get started, shall we?_"

Mai wasn't too please where she was sitting. Although there weren't any dark spirits around them, a shudder still went down her back at the power they gave off. Mai, Naru, Reimi, and Kiko/Koaimi were surrounding Nicolas' grave: Kiko/Koaimi sat on the right side of the grave to symbolize the "dawn" or "beginning" of Nicolas' journey. Naru sat on the left side of the grave, which was the direction of the afterlife. During the exorcism, Kiko would have to move from Koaimi to Naru, meaning Kiko would be both the end and beginning of Nicolas. Mai sat in front of the gravestone, the south of it. Kiko hadn't explained what that meant, but Mai trusted the girl knew what she was doing. Even if Kiko was a trapped 16-year-old ghost, she had been around for another 18 years after her death. She was already a mature woman merely trying to escape her murderer ex-boyfriend and protect her family.

Mai snapped out of her thoughts when she smelled incense reached her nose. She could hear Lin chanting behind her, the metallic smell of blood mixed with the smoke, almost making her gag.

Kiko grabbed Mai's hand, making her start. To her right, Mai felt Naru reach for her hand. A strange warm spread through her body, but she pushed aside those feelings and started to focus on the exorcism. Fear started to work its way through Mai's veins again as she remembered she needed to die for Nicolas. She knew she wasn't going to get the curse, but there were only five people doing this. That meant there was a 20 chance she could…a squeeze came from Mai's left hand. The girl glanced at Koaimi, who gave her a smile.

"_Be brave, Mai. I know you are, I saw you protecting Reimi._"

Mai blushed, avoiding Naru's look. He was no doubt glaring at her for acting like such a coward. But…was he afraid to die too?

"It's ready," Lin said, his chanting halted. "You can start now."

"The spirits are coming!" Monk-san yelled from about three feet behind Naru. "Hurry!"

Koaimi shut her eyes and looked up. Mai did the same thing, her heart pounding as adrenaline pumped through her veins once more that night. This case had started as a kidnapping, but now it would end in death. So many things could go wrong, why had Mai suggested joint-chanting exorcism? She could be back at the manor, wondering where everyone was, sleeping and watching the exorcism safely in her dreams.

A squeeze from her right hand sent another warm sensation throughout her body. It ate her fear up and left courage and bravery behind. She could do this; she just needed to trust the woman to her left.

A silver light invaded the darkness under Mai's eyelids. Had she fallen asleep again?

"Kiko-san! You left the body too early!" Lin-san shouted. Mai opened her eyes.

A pearly silver figure was floating above the gravestone. Although she was transparent, Mai could make out her silver hair and violet eyes, which held fear in them.

"_Something pushed me out,_" Kiko said. It was the voice that belonged to the girl in Mai's visions. This was the 16-year-old who had gone through that entire trauma before her death; accidentally killing her boyfriend and being murdered by his vengeful ghost.

Mai gasped as a person was almost tossed on top of her. Monk-san scrambled to his feet, slightly amazed at how far he had flown.

"Nicolas is coming! You have to do finish this up!"

"_Without me, one of you will get the curse,_" Kiko's ghost said, fear present in her voice. Mai bit her lip; things were getting _really _bad. A moan was heard from Mai's left; that's when she realized the hand in her left hand had gone limp.

_Koaimi?_ Mai thought frantically as she turned to look. The girl who had housed Kiko's ghost looked up, wondering where she was. Her violet eyes were full and bright; curiosity and confusion were present in her look.

"Where am I? What happened, where's Kiko?"

"Mai, close your eyes and focus!" Naru barked at her. Mai was about to argue back when a huge gust of wind blew across the site. Mai squeezed Koaimi's hand to assure her that everything was fine. _What_ was fine? Things were only getting worse as time passed. Mai looked up at Kiko's ghost.

She was gone.

Again, fear spread through Mai's body as she wondered where the ghost had went but a squeeze from her right hand made her glance at Naru. He was smiling at her, like the one who was always in her dreams.

"_I'm right here_," Kiko/Naru said. Mai looked away and blushed. _How_ could she have believed that was really Naru who just smiled at her?

"This won't work," Ayako said, helping Reimi and Koaimi to their feet. "We have to get the Shino's out of here, especially Koaimi, she's really weak."

"I'm alright, thank you," Koaimi said. _This_ was the girl Mai had met during their telepathic communication, not the one during the tea party. Koaimi Shino pulled the frilly ribbons out of her hair and looked down at her gown with disgust. "How old does she think I am, ten?"

Mai grinned to herself as she realized Koaimi was actually her age, but Mai couldn't help thinking Koaimi was actually younger.

"I caught that," the Shino girl said; her voice full of malice but her purple-shaded eyes were friendly. "What do we do now? Ole Nick will be here to smite you, Kiko-chan. This exorcism or whatever you were performing won't stop him."

_You're right it won't._

Mai gasped as another gale of wind swirled around them. Mai's body shuddered horribly until she was afraid she'd collapse. A ghost appeared before Naru; it was purple and solid rather than the pearly silver ghost Kiko had been. Ayako grabbed Reimi and Koaimi and pulled them close to her for protection, Monk did the same to Mai.

_You think some pitiful exorcism will stop me?_ The voice was in Mai's head. Where had he learned telepathy like that? _You have changed a bit Kimiko._

"_Nicolas,_" Kiko/Naru pleaded, stepping forward. Naru brought one hand over his chest as if he were protecting it from damage. How could such a bastard harm an innocent girl like Kiko?

Nicolas glared down at them; he had been unusually handsome in a dark way in Kiko's flashbacks, but now he was ugly, his face contorted with fury and anger. Was he really this evil, or was he trying to get revenge for the death Kiko gave him?

No.

It had been an accident, and he was trying to seduce her to give in to the darkness. He didn't deserve to die, no matter how evil he was.

_It was all just a big misunderstanding_, Mai assured herself. A tingling sensation went through her mind as if the government had stuck a tracking chip in her mind and it was scanning her mind. Mai glanced up at Nicolas…he was gazing at her with a smirk so deep it was evil itself.

"Taniyama-san!" John said as he ran to her. However, he was tossed aside by some invisible force, colliding with Monk-san.

Mai was left unprotected.

You will do. You're heart is weak, confused, and you believe I can actually forgive the witch who murdered me?

"Mai, run!" Koaimi screamed, breaking loose from Ayako's hold. Nicolas glanced up to look at the indigo-haired girl running at Mai.

Well, well…Ai-chan. You'll make a better host then this naïve imbecile.

"_Koaimi, stay with Ayako!_" Kiko/Naru shouted, trying to run towards her. However, time seemed to slow down. Nicolas swooped down, the gale of wind knocked over Naru, making him land on top of John. Koaimi stopped and looked up at the purple spirit heading towards her.

This was it.

Nick had what he wanted, and Kiko wouldn't be able to save her this time.

_Why didn't I listen to my older sister?_ were Koaimi's last thoughts as she shut her eyes.


	11. Chapter Ten: End of a Lifetime

_**Ghost Hunt: The Cursed Relics**_

**Chapter Ten: The End of a Lifetime**

"_Why didn't I listen to my older sister?"_

_Hey guys! One more note:_

_I finally bought Volumes 6 & 7 of Ghost Hunt, and you are all right, Mai is an orphan. So I've updated chapter 4 and changed "Mrs.Taniyama" to Kiri!_

_-Katrina_

* * *

The air stopped; it was like a crowd holding its breath as they watched a magician hide in a box and vanish, wondering if he'd return.

Koaimi opened her eyes, wondering what had happened, and gasped. Mai stood in front of her; her blue eyes were distant and dripping tears.

"Kill…me…" Mai uttered her final words. "Kill…me…and destroy…Nico-"

"_Mai!_" Kiko/Naru shouted, his eyes wide with fear no one had ever seen in their lives.

Ayako ran forward, leaving Reimi with Lin, and pulled Koaimi away from Mai. Mai's body shuddered as if she were thrown in the dead of winter in only a t-shirt and shorts, then jerked up straight. An evil smirk spread across her peaceful face.

"_This body's a lot more flexible than that dumb excuse for a psychic,_" Nicolas/Mai said. She rounded on Ayako and Koaimi, her eyes thirsting for blood. "_Now then, where were we?_"

"_Hello?_"

Hello…hello…hello… 

Mai Taniyama hugged her torso, more for protection then warmth. She couldn't tell if she was upside-down or even floating. All she could see was darkness.

And hear silence.

Mai tried to think about the last though she'd had. She had jumped in front of Ai-chan to protect her…and then…

Nothing.

_I'm a spirit,_ Mai thought out loud.

Spirit…Iret..Ret… 

Everything she thought and said echoed around the darkness. Why hadn't she blacked out like all those other times Nicolas had possessed her?

_Because my will is strong,_ Mai answered herself. _I won't give up, no like this. I won't let Nicolas kill the others, not through me he won't!_

A red glow appeared in front of her. Mai reached for it, wondering if it was real. Warmth. The red glow gave warmth. Was this Nicolas' will? Maybe deep down he wanted to forgive Kiko, but revenge had turned him into the disgusting creature he was. The red glow stretched, ripping a hole in the darkness to the size of a doorframe, and Mai walked through.

A bright sun temporarily blinded Mai until she heard children screaming. She squinted so she could see who was in trouble, but she relaxed when she realized she was on a playground full of happy kids. She looked around the area, wondering what she was looking for, but spotted it instantly by the sandbox. Two children were playing in the box, both around 8 or 9, the girl had long silver hair pulled into a braid and happy violet eyes, the boy had short cropped brown hair and light brown eyes, almost orange.

"Kiko, lookit!" the little boy said, pointing to his small mountain of sand. "It's the castle me and you are gonna live in!"

"Wow, that's a pretty castle, Nicky!" Kiko said, looking at the castle. She crawled over to the sand heap. Mai watched with bated breath as the small sand mound started to shake. Then, grain-by-grain, the sand mountain started to shift around and shape itself into a _real_ sandcastle. Nicolas watched with fascination until Kiko had completed the model, before he clapped his hands happily.

"This is the castle we should live in," Kiko said, proud of her achievement.

"I really like you, Kiko," Nicolas said, bashfully. Kiko looked at him, a confused looked on her face before she smiled at him.

"I like you too, Nicky!"

"Kimiko!"

Mai and the two kids jumped as a shrill voice called them. A young woman ran over to them, her shoulder length black hair was already streaked with gray. Mai recognized this as Anzu Shino, Koba Shino's first wife.

"I saw you, Kimiko Shino. I told you no horse playing around! You're going home!"

"But mommy-" Kiko debated, but her mother grabbed her by her small wrists and pulled her away. Strangely enough, Kiko didn't fight back or scream. However, she looked over her shoulder at Nicolas, her violet eyes sent tears down her ivory face. Nicolas looked back at the sandcastle Anzu had ruined. He, too, shed a tear that mingled with the white sand.

"She always took her from you," Mai said, squatting down and stroking Nicolas' hair. "Anzu-san. She was always coming between you and Kiko. She was afraid Kiko's powers would hurt someone."

Nicolas looked at Mai, his face was sad instead of the demonic one she had seen just before he attacked her.

"Kiko is nice though," Nick said, looking after them. "She not gonna hurt anybody."

"I know," Mai said, her eyes also watering up. "People do stupid things, like break your toys, or take your lunch money, or ruin your sandcastles. But we have to let things go and forgive the people that hurt us. You have to forgive Kiko, she's never going to hurt you on purpose."

Nicolas stopped crying and looked up at Mai. "If I forgive her, will I always be with her?"

"You betcha," Mai said, picking him up by the waist and standing him up. "Now go get her tiger."

Nicolas obeyed and started to run after Anzu and Kiko. Mai watched after him, a smile plastered on her face. He was never a bad kid; he held onto the grudges Kiko had done to him. His heart hadn't forgiven her.

"That's what the red glow was," Mai said, remembering what had freed her from her dark hell. "Nicolas' heart."

The playground scene swirled together in a mixture of colors and Mai closed her eyes. A heat wave washed over her and she opened her eyes again.

She was back in the cemetery.

"Mai?" Koaimi called. Mai realized she was on her back. She sat up and looked around. Koaimi was standing next to Naru, she was clutching his arm. Monk and John were both standing by Ayako; all three of them had no doubt performed exorcisms on her to get rid of Nicolas' spirit.

"What happened?" Mai asked, wondering where Nicolas was.

"You almost attacked me, or rather Nick did," Koaimi said, stepping towards Mai when she realized Mai wasn't possessed anymore. "But just before Nick did, he clutched his head, screaming, and then he collapsed."

"Where is he?" John said, looking around. "I hardly doubt he's done for."

Mai's heart sank when she realized John was right; that had been too easy. However, screams could be heard above them. The spirits that had been protecting Nicolas were depleting, and Nicolas himself had taken a new shape.

Mai had released his heart.

All that was left was vengeance.

"_You!"_ the purple spirit said. It didn't have Nick's shape, only a corporeal figure with bulging red eyes. His demonic eyes were focused on Naru. "_You die with me now!"_

Before anyone could react, the spirit swooped down on Naru and grabbed him by the collar.

"_I shall have my revenge!_"

"Kiko! Naru!" Mai shouted, but the demon sent a gust of wind at Mai, knocking her back into Monk. The demon cackled.

"_How long I wanted to destroy you. Now I have my chance!_"

"_Hey asshole, over here._"

Everyone's head swiveled around and landed on Reimi, who was holding Kiko's amulet. Lin was holding the small bucket of Nicolas' blood under the amulet. A smirk the size of the Pacific Ocean was spread on Reimi's face.

"_You forgot one thing, Nicky, I was always two steps ahead of you_," Reimi said as she dislodged the amber stone from the amulet. She held it above the bucket and looked at Nicolas.

"_You!"_ the demon bellowed again, releasing Naru. "_How crude you always were._"

"_Go back to hell you stupid excuse for a boyfriend,_" Kiko/Reimi said. The demon tried to swoop at her, but Reimi crushed the amber in her fist. Blood dripped down her clenched fist, but it was not her own. The demon's red eyes widened and a blast of light shot out from where his heart was supposed to be.

"_Kimiko…_" the demon said, weakly, as shots of light engulfed his entire body.

"_Don't 'Kimiko' me. _You're_ not my boyfriend._"

The demon screamed as it burst into a flash of bright white light…

Then silence.

Reimi opened her fist and dropped the broken amber and amulet into the bucket of blood. Lin took the bucket and dumped it over Nicolas' grave; the dark red substance hissed and smoked as it his the grass and dead flowers. A silvery smoke rose out of Reimi's body and she collapsed, Lin catching her before she fell.

"That's it?" Monk-san said with great difficulty. "We went through all that trouble-and that's _it_?"

"Nicolas was spying on us, so we had to pretend we were going to do an exorcism in order o destract him," Naru explained as he turned his left shoulder. It gave a satisfying _pop_ before he continued. "The joint-chanting exorcism is forbidden to use, no matter how difficult a ghost may be. And besides Nicolas would've been immune to that too."

"Then why didn't do what she did before?" Ayako demanded, upset that she had broken a fingernail.

"Because we needed Nicolas to move on," Mai said, remembering the playground scene. "In that demonic ghost we saw was a child's heart who just wanted to forgive. If Kiko had broken the amulet while the real Nicolas was inside, an innocent soul would have been damned for eternity. Kiko, you are very merciful."

The transparent girl glided in front of Mai and gave her a sad smile.

"_You are just like me, Mai-san,_" Kiko said, her warm violet eyes were apparent even though she was a silver ghost. "_You can see the good in others. Don't lose sight of that, that's why you helped Nicolas moved on. _You_ exorcised him to where he belongs. Peace._"

Mai felt ecstatic as she realized she had _exorcised_ a spirit! Kiko grinned at her as she skimmed her thoughts real quick and she faced the crowd.

"_Attention Shibuya Psychic Research, we did it._"

Ayako hugged a surprised John and squealed, realizing she could now go get a manicure now. Monk-san, Naru, and Lin watched them; Monk-san amused and Naru shaking his head. Mai felt a tug on her shirt, and she realized Reimi, now recovered, and Koaimi were standing next to her.

"Thank you," Ai-chan said, a pleasant smile on her face. Mai nodded to her before the three of them turned to face Kiko. Kiko was looking at a gravestone with a sullen look, but turned to face them as they observed her.

"_I suppose this is good-bye,_" Kiko said, trying to remain cheerful. Koaimi forced a smile on her face, but Mai could tell she was sad too.

"Does it have to be?" Koaimi asked. "You helped me through everything in my entire life. I can still house you in my body!"

"_Silly Ai-chan,_" Kiko laughed. Although it was a nice laugh, it still made the hair on the back of Mai's neck stand up. "_You're exhausted, I can see you. If I stay in your body any longer I'll end up killing you. I do not want to be responsible for any more deaths._"

"Nick's death wasn't your fault," Mai said. "It was an accident. You have to forgive and forget; move on to the afterlife."

Kiko was taken aback, but she quickly recovered. Her pale transparent face smiled, even her eyes, and she nodded. "_You're right, Mai-san. That's the grudge that's kept me here for almost twenty years; I haven't been able to forgive myself. But now that I know Nicolas can do it, I can do it too._"

Mai nodded. "Goodbye, Kiko. You will always have a place in my heart."

Kiko nodded back. "_If all of you will remember me, I'll always be watching over you. Sayonara, I love you Ai-chan, Rei-chan."_

A bright light washed over Kiko and the gravestone. The light seemed to come directly from the moon. Everyone stopped their chatting to watch in awe as the light absorbed Kiko. Mai smiled, and for a split second, she thought she saw Kiko reunited with Nicolas. Whether it was an illusion or not, the light vanished as quickly as it had come. Koaimi walked over to the grave Kiko had been looking at.

"'In loving memory of Koba Shino,'" Ai-chan read. "'A magnificent father, husband, and scientist. He will be remembered by those who keep him in their hearts.' My father didn't die of brain damage. Five years ago, he went to an asylum for psychic years ago. When he came home, he was really sick and he couldn't even talk straight. He died two days after that. I had a vision the night of his return, I saw a woman with gray hair, her eyes were twisted with madness and she had invaded my father's mind. I was confused of who this woman might be, so I did research and I found out who it was. It was Anzu Shino, my father's first wife. She had destroyed my father's powers with her own PK powers and he perished after that. When I was ten, I visited his grave with Reimi, and then Kiko came to us as a ghost. She needed out help for something and I agreed. For five long years we fought against Nicolas, and now it's over."

The crowd was silent as they listened to Koaimi's story. Reimi walked up behind her cousin and hugged her back. Ai-chan looked back at her, but her frown turned into a grin and she turned around so she could hug her cousin back.

"Why don't we have a celebration in honor of Kiko?" Mai said, bringing up the mood. "And Koba for his dedication, and Nicolas for achieving forgiveness."

"Oh! Party!" Reimi giggled. "C'mon, let's go home!"

Reimi ran and grabbed Lin by his sleeve, dragging him out of the graveyard. Monk-san, Ayako, and John followed him, laughing, and Naru looked at Mai before following in pursuit.

"I thought Anzu hated Kiko because she didn't have powers," Mai said to Koaimi when they were alone. Koaimi shook her head.

"Kiko had both kinds of powers, just like me. But Anzu didn't want to believe Kiko had inherited psychic powers from her. Things got worse as Kiko grew up, though. Koba had met my mother and fallen in love with her and Anzu was very upset. She divorced my father and moved out. I'm not sure when or why she went to an asylum, though."

Mai nodded. "C'mon, let's go follow after them."

"Hold on," Koaimi said. She reached into her dress and yanked her necklace off her neck. She walked over to the headstone next to Nicolas' and tossed the necklace on top of the bouquets of flowers.

"My father gave this to me as a girl; it had belonged to Kiko. I think it belongs to its rightful owner."

Mai looked at the gravestone and smiled when she read '_In loving memory of Kimiko Shino, Koba and Rebecca Shino's first daughter. A powerful fighter with a heart of pure gold._'

"I think she'll be happy for eternity," Mai said as she and Koaimi watched the gravestone, peace settling over the graveyard. "Case closed."


	12. Epilouge

**Ghost Hunt: The Cursed Relics**

**Epilouge**

"_Case closed!"_

* * *

"Hey Naru, I have something to ask you."

"Hmm?"

Shibuya, Tokyo was starting to cool off slightly as he hottest week of summer was slowly coming to an end. Mai, Naru, Lin, and Masako Hara were sitting in the lobby going over last week's case.

"Did Kiko possess you at all during the 'exorcism?'" Mai asked as she sipped her cold iced tea. Naru grunted.

"What do you think?"

"Of course not," Mai said, putting the glass down. "So when you were being nice to me that was actually you?"

Masako looked at Mai, blushing and jealous. Naru actually had a dazed look on his face.

"I was acting. It's what a con man does."

"Whatever," Mai laughed. "I can't believe that was actually _you_! You had me fooled big time!"

"I refuse to talk about this," Naru said calmly as he put down his iced coffee and stood up.

"Aw, c'mon!" Mai cried as the office door opened. The four people gazed as a familiar face poke their head in.

"Hello, sorry to intrude," Rebecca Shino said, as she stepped in. "Reimi wants to show you something."

"Hello Shino-san," Mai said, rising to her feet. "Rei-chan, what do you have for us?"

Reimi stepped into the room, shyly. She walked over to Mai and thrust something at her. It was a book. Reimi drew the cover; there were stick figures of Naru and Lin (the ones dressed in black), Ayako, Monk, Mai, Reimi, Koaimi, and Kiko (a gray stick figure).

"Auntie Becca helped me type it," Reimi beamed, proud of her achievement. "It's for Shibuya-sama and you, Mai-chan!"

Mai opened the cover and was surprised to find it was a 100-paged book on their adventure. "Wow, Reimi. You should get this published. I'll have to take this with me and read it, okay?"

The fuchsia-haired girl beamed, glad that Mai liked it, when the office door opened again. Koaimi walked in; she was dressed like an average teenager in her blue miniskirt, white tanktop, blue denim vest, and brown snow boots. Her hair was curly and pushed out of her face with a blue headband, save for two strands of hair.

"I also brought you something," Koaimi said as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a golden charm bracelet, like the one that matched with the one on her own wrist.

"It's good luck to wear them on Relic Night, but they're cute enough to wear anytime of the year."

Mai took the bracelet and smiled. "Thank you guys. Thank you for coming out to see us."

"Not at all," Rebecca said. "C'mon girls, let's get to the theatre."

"Promise you'll come visit us, okay?" Koaimi said. Mai nodded and the Shino's left the room.

"Quite a nice family, aren't they?" Masako said. Mai nodded as she plopped back on the couch.

"I'll say. Looks like Reimi's taking after her aunt and uncle."

Mai opened the book and turned to the acknowledgement.

_To auntie and uncle, and Koaimi. Also, to Katzuya Shibuya, Mai Taniyama, and all the people of SPR. Also to my cousin Kiko and to Nicolas_.

Mai smiled and opened the book.

_Once upon a time there were two girls named Reimi Shino and Koaimi Shino. One day, they decided to go to the cemetery to visit their grandpa and other relatives who passed away, but Koaimi got very scared…_

Mai felt better as she read the book from Reimi's point of view. Maybe this book would help keep Kiko's memory alive. Mai eyed the charm bracelet on her wrist before one thought came to her head, one that no one else in the room could telepathically hear:

_The end._


End file.
